1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a system and method to provide chemicals for use in a semiconductor device fabrication process. More particularly, the present invention generally relates to a system and method for efficiently providing a viscous liquid chemical onto a semiconductor substrate during a semiconductor device fabrication process.
A claim of priority is made to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2004-0009935 filed on Feb. 16, 2004, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Storage capabilities and operating speeds of semiconductor devices have increased to keep pace with the rapid development of information technology. In accordance with recent trends in the semiconductor field, semiconductor fabrication technology has progressed towards enhanced integration, reliability, and response speed.
Conventionally, integrated circuit patterns are formed on a semiconductor device by selectively performing process steps such as photolithography, etching, diffusion, chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion implantation, and metallization.
Various chemicals are used during these manufacturing processes. However, there are numerous supply parameters associated with the chemicals, such as quantity or concentration, as well as the pressure and temperature of the chemicals.
The photolithography process uses a photoresist to form an etching mask to selectively etch a semiconductor substrate. Alternatively, the photoresist is used as an ion implantation mask to selectively implant ions on the semiconductor substrate. The conventional photoresist system has a filter to remove gas bubbles trapped in the photoresist. However, when a highly viscous photoresist is used, gas bubbles trapped in the photoresist cannot easily be removed. Also, it takes additional time for the highly viscous photoresist to pass through the filter. As a result, supply time increases, which in turn, increases overall processing time and total manufacturing cost.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-195510, published on Jul. 9, 2003, discloses a chemical supply system for use in a semiconductor device fabrication process. However, the chemical supply system described in this document includes a filter for removing air bubbles. Therefore, the disclosed system has the same problems as above. Furthermore, because the chemical is directly supplied onto a semiconductor substrate from a tank, the amount of the chemical supplied varies depending on the amount of chemical stored in the tank.